THE WIND PHONE
We Nursed Our Broken Hearts in Black And White
Watching old films with Granny after Granddad passed
After my granddad passed on, I started going over to my granny’s place for dinner and post-dinner movie sessions a few times a week.
Granddad and Granny were childhood sweethearts who spent their lives together. They had been married almost 65 years when he died. Together, they had built a formidable partnership and created a truly remarkable life.
They grew up as neighbours in a tiny, isolated village two hours away from the nearest city. There they chased chickens, scrapped with each other and played in the sand with the other village kids.
Everyone knew everyone; there were barely 50 people in the village. My granddad’s parents asked my granny’s parents if their kids should get married; Granny’s parents said yes, and that was that.
Granny often joked with me that she could have married someone richer and taller. She was the village beauty who had her pick. “But,” she added, “the problem is, that person wouldn’t have been your granddad.”
After they got married, they moved themselves out of their little village and into the city. The only place they could afford were two rented rooms in a dirty, dinghy…